The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has reiterated its strong stance on cryptocurrencies following the appointment of new governor Yi Gang.
PBOC vice governor Fan Yifei (范一飞) said that in 2018 the Chinese central bank would “undertake correction and clean-up of various types of virtual currencies.”
Fan made the remarks on 28 March at PBOC’s 2018 National Currency Gold and Silver Work Television Phone Conference (2018年全国货币金银工作电视电话会议).
According to an official media statement from PBOC Fan also pointed to the need to “firmly advance the central bank’s digital currency research and development.”
Fan’s remarks arrive after former PBOC governor Zhou Xiaochuan revealed that the Chinese central bank is working on the development of its own digital currency called the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DC/EP).
According to Zhou PBOC established a research institute for the development of DC/EP after conducting a seminar on the topic over three years ago, while China’s State Council has given official approval to the digital currency R&D project.
While PBOC prides itself on being one of the frontrunners amongst the world’s central banks in the research and development of cryptocurrencies, it’s also taken the lead in cracking down on fintech activities.
Beijing launched a ban on ICO’s and cryptocurrency financing in September 2017, while in February of this year it flagged plans to ban both domestic and overseas online cryptocurrency trading platforms.
